Coaches Show

Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at The Swinging Doors in North Spokane . . .
700-AM ESPN, www.700espn.com & via iphone app. (search for
“Spokane Radio” and download app). Shows are each
Tuesday from Jan. 8 to March 12 and feature head coach Jim
Hayford and host Larry Weir. The Swinging
Doors is located at W. 1018 Francis in Spokane.

The Eagles are on the ropes, but the Eastern Washington
University men’s basketball team still has a lot to play for
Saturday (March 2) when Eagle Jeffrey Forbes makes
history against North Dakota on Senior Day at EWU.

Already with a school-record 104 games started in his career,
Forbes will equal the school record for games played with 119 when
the two teams tip-off at 2:05 p.m. Pacific time at Reese Court in
Cheney, Wash.

The radio broadcast of all Eastern games is on 700-AM ESPN, via
the web at www.700espn.com and
via iPhone application (search for “700 ESPN” and
download the free app). The broadcast is also available via www.tunein.com and tunein’s
mobile phone app. Larry Weir returns for his 20th year as the
play-by-play voice of the Eagles.

Eastern is still alive for one of seven berths in the Big Sky
Conference Tournament, but its hopes are hanging by a thread.
Saturday is Senior Day, with Eastern honoring four players taking
part in the final game of their careers at Reese Court –
Forbes, Kevin Winford, Collin
Chiverton and Jordan Hickert. It will
also be Father/Son Day, featuring discount tickets available for $5
each.

Remaining ninth in the standings following an 88-80 overtime
loss to Northern Colorado on Thursday (Feb. 28), the Eagles are
6-11 in the Big Sky Conference and 9-19 overall with just three
games to play. However, Eastern is just one game out of eighth, 1
1/2 games from seventh and two games out of a current three-way tie
for fourth.

North Dakota enters Saturday’s game in third with a 10-8
record, and is 13-15 overall. Earlier this season, Eastern lost on
the road at UND 65-47, but Eastern head coach Jim
Hayford knows there is still a lot of basketball to be
played before his team concedes the postseason.

“I told our guys (our season) is not over,”
explained Hayford. “There is still going to be some crazy
stuff happen in this league. We will have to see where we are -- if
we can get two wins -- going into the last game of the year. I
think we will come back (against North Dakota) and show great pride
and poise when we put on our uniforms Saturday
afternoon.”

Eastern closes the season with road games at Idaho State on
March 7 and Weber State on March 9. The Big Sky Conference
Tournament takes place March 14-16 at the site of the regular
season champion.

In fact, even if Eastern wins just two of its last three, there
is a good chance they could reach the postseason because of the
difficulty of the remaining schedules for the teams they are
chasing. Most notable is Northern Arizona (8-9), which hosts
second-place Weber State on Saturday before going on the road for
games at Montana State and league-leading Montana next week.
Eastern has a tiebreaker advantage over the Lumberjacks because of
a season sweep.

Eastern split with Southern Utah (8-9), and the Thunderbirds
host Montana on Monday (March 4) before playing at Northern
Colorado and North Dakota. Eastern’s victory earlier this
season over MSU could help in a tie with Southern Utah, provided
the Bobcats finish ahead of both Sacramento State and Northern
Colorado.

Sacramento State (7-10) hosts Idaho State Saturday and has a
tiebreaker advantage against EWU because of a season sweep, but the
Hornets face UM and MSU in their last two games. In addition, the
Hornets were swept by Northern Arizona, thus negating their
tiebreaker over the Eagles in the event of a three-way tie between
EWU, NAU and Sac State.

The Eagles, however, are still shorthanded after a season full
of adversity. In the loss to UNC, Eastern played its third-straight
game without Winford, who had emergency compartment syndrome
surgery on his shin following EWU’s win over Southern Utah on
Feb. 16. As a result, the Eagles equaled a season-high with 22
turnovers versus UNC, leading to 24 points off turnovers by the
Bears.

* Senior guard Jeffrey Forbes will set his
second school record against North Dakota when he plays in the
119th game of his career to equal the school record of 119 set by
Marc Axton from 2002-05 (Alvin Snow had 118 from 2001-04). He has
already started a school-record 104 games, with Axton holding the
previous record with 99. Forbes hit a major career milestone in an
81-76 victory against Sam Houston State on Feb. 23. He scored 11
points versus the Bearkats as he became the 16th player in school
history to score at least 1,000 career points (he now has 1,013).
Forbes went over the 1,000-point mark with 2:39 left on a key
3-pointer that helped EWU maintain a nine-point lead. Later, he
made a pair of free throws as EWU made 7-of-8 shots from the
charity stripe in the final 54 seconds to hold off the Bearkats. He
also ranks sixth in school history wit­­­h 118 career
steals, and is also third in 3-pointers made (170) and second in
attempts (459). Forbes started his school-record 100th game for the
Eagles Feb. 9 at Northern Arizona, scoring 10 points, including a
pair of clutch free throws with nine seconds left that provided the
final margin versus the Lumberjacks. He also had four assists and a
career-high eight rebounds in the 77-74 overtime win over NAU. He
started and scored six points against Sacramento State one game
earlier, but essentially did not play in the previous four games
because of a cut that required stitches between the pinkie finger
and ring finger of his shooting hand. He did not play versus
Montana State, played in just the final seconds of the games
against Montana and Southern Utah and only the final seconds of the
first half versus Portland State. He suffered the injury late in
the game versus Northern Colorado on Jan. 19, and one game earlier
had missed the first game of his career because of a knee injury
suffered in an automobile accident involving one of the
team’s mini-vans.

* Continuing his recent hot stretch, redshirt freshman
Tyler Harvey finished with 22 points, four assists
and four rebounds for the Eagles in their 88-80 overtime loss to
Northern Colorado on Feb. 28. In the last five games, the new-found
scoring sensation has scored 77 points (15.4 average) on 60 percent
shooting from the field (31-of-52, including 9-of-22 3-point
attempts). In the first 13 games he played this season, Harvey
scored just 17. He made the first start of his career against Sam
Houston State on Feb. 23 in an 81-76 BracketBusters victory. He
finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and three
blocked shots at point guard, including a pair of key blocked shots
in the last 1:21 to help preserve a seven-point advantage. One game
earlier, he had a season-high 23 points at Portland State on Feb.
18. He burst onto the scene on Feb. 9 at Northern Arizona when EWU
was down by 18 with 7:35 left to play in regulation. He came off
the bench to score 14 points in the last 8:31 of the game and
rallied the Eagles to an improbable 77-74 overtime victory in
Flagstaff, Ariz. Eastern trailed by 13 when Harvey entered the game
for the second time with 3:42 left. He never came out after that,
and scored eight points in regulation and six in overtime. In
EWU’s next game versus Southern Utah, he helped preserve
EWU’s 14-point win by scoring all 11 of his points in the
last 6:10 of the game. He then scored 17 of his 23 points in the
second half of EWU’s 89-80 loss at Portland State, including
11 in a 16-0 run that turned a 12-point halftime deficit into a
three-point lead. Harvey had entered the NAU game having averaged
just 4.8 minutes in the 13 games he had played thus far as an
Eagle. He had made only 6-of-17 overall and 3-of-9 treys for the
season prior to the NAU game.

* Six-foot-10 sophomore Martin Seiferth is
coming off his third double-double of the season when he had 11
points, 21 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in EWU’s
88-80 overtime loss to Northern Colorado on Feb. 28. His rebounding
total was the third-most in recorded school history, ranking only
behind the 22 by Paul Butorac (11/18/06 versus Lewis-Clark State)
and 28 by Dave Hayden (1/15/72 versus Oregon Tech). One game
earlier, Seiferth broke his own school record when he had eight
blocked shots in EWU’s 81-76 victory over Sam Houston State
on Feb. 23, helping the Eagles to a school and Big Sky Conference
record 16 as a team. Seiferth has made 62.6 percent of his shots
from the field to rank second in the Big Sky and would rank as the
fourth-best single season performance in school history if he had
enough attempts to qualify (he has 139 and needs 140). Thus far,
Seiferth is averaging 8.0 points, 6.1 rebounds (ninth in the Big
Sky) and 2.1 blocked shots per game (third in the Big Sky and 46th
in NCAA Division I). His 59 blocked shots already rank as the
second-most in school history on the single season list and seventh
on the career chart. He had his second double-double of the season
with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots versus Southern
Utah on Feb. 16. He scored 13 points with six rebounds and four
blocked shots in EWU’s 76-65 win over Portland State on Jan.
28. He made 6-of-7 shots from the field and had 14 points, nine
rebounds and three blocked shots in just 26 minutes of action at
North Dakota on Jan. 17. Earlier this season he was the Big Sky
Conference Player of the Week after finishing with 27 points, 17
rebounds and a school-record seven blocked shots in a 96-79 loss at
Cal State Northridge. The transfer from Oregon had to sit out last
season because of NCAA transfer rules.

* The Eagles has had to play its last three games without
starting point guard Kevin Winford. He suffered a
blow to his shin against Southern Utah on Feb. 16 that resulted in
compartment syndrome and required surgery the evening following the
game. Winford was averaging 10.3 points and 4.2 assists in
EWU’s last six games prior to the injury.

* Eastern is leading the Big Sky Conference in blocked shots
with a school-record 162 already for an average of 5.8 per game to
rank 10th in NCAA Division I. Individual Eagles are ranked No. 1
and No. 3 in the league, with Venky Jois averaging
2.5 per game to rank 25th in NCAA Division I and Martin
Seiferth averaging 2.1 to rank 46th. The previous school
record was 130 in the 2005-06 season (4.3 average per game).

* Eastern ranks 14th in NCAA Division I in 3-pointers made per
game (8.5) following an 8-of-29 performance against Northern
Colorado and a 10-of-18 effort against Sam Houston State on Feb.
23. Eastern attempted a season-low 15 on Feb. 16 against Southern
Utah, but one game earlier tied a school record for attempts in a
14-of-43 performance at NAU. The Eagles are averaging a
league-leading 8.5 makes per game (total of 237) while attempting
an average of 25.1 (total of 704). Last year, when EWU set school
records with 283 makes and 793 attempts, Eastern averaged 8.8 made
treys per game on an average of 24.8 attempts.

* Thus far, the Eagles have used 13 different starting lineups
because of a variety of reasons and obstacles placed before them.
But the one constant has been the continued development of young
players, including five freshmen/sophomores who each have started
at least three games with a collective total of 83 starts this
season (sophomores Parker Kelly and Martin
Seiferth, and true freshmen Venky Jois, Thomas
Reuter and Daniel Hill). Besides those
five players, redshirt freshman Tyler Harvey has
provided a recent boost and made the first start of his career on
Feb. 23 at point guard. Three times this season sophomores and
freshmen have accounted for at least 75 percent of the team’s
minutes. They accounted for 80 percent at North Dakota on Jan. 17,
and 75 percent in both meetings against Portland State. By
contrast, 83 percent of PSU’s minutes against EWU on Feb. 23
were by seniors or juniors. The Vikings won that game 89-80.

* The Eagles are third in the Big Sky in offensive rebounds with
an average of 11.1 per game (Southern Utah 12.1, Montana State
11.3). Martin Seiferth has a 2.5 average and
Venky Jois is averaging 2.2 to rank third and
sixth, respectively, in the league. A year ago, Eastern averaged
12.0 offensive boards per game to lead the league.

* Three Eagles rank in the top six in school history in career
3-pointers made. Jeffrey Forbes is third (170),
Kevin Winford is fifth (138) and Collin
Chiverton is sixth (130). In attempts, Forbes is second
(459), Winford (409) is fifth and Chiverton is sixth (337).
Chiverton is also 11th in career 3-point field goal percentage
(.386), with sophomore Parker Kelly ranking sixth
(.408)

* With the league expanded to 11 teams, the Big Sky Conference
Tournament includes seven teams this year and will take place March
14-16 at the site of the regular season champion. The host receives
a first-round bye, with the other six teams playing for the other
three berths in the semifinals. A year ago, Eastern beat Idaho
State 81-75 in the first round before losing to eventual champion
Montana 74-66 in the semifinals.

More EWU
Notes

* True freshman Venky Jois had a career high
seven assists and equaled his career high with 14 rebounds in
Eastern’s 72-68 victory over Montana State on Jan. 31, and he
also had eight points and three blocked shots. Jois, however,
missed the last 3:15 with an ankle injury, and then sat out the
next three games before playing a total of 49 minutes in the next
two. Jois has established himself as a bonafide contender for
All-Big Sky Conference honors, as well as the league’s
Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year accolades. He has had
nine double-doubles this season to lead the Big Sky and rank 55th
in NCAA Division I, but he hasn’t had a double-double since
finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds against Portland State on
Jan. 28. He also leads the league and ranks 36th nationally in
rebounding (9.3), and is 25th in the nation and tops in the Big Sky
in blocked shots (2.5 per game). His 62 blocked shots have broken
the school record of 51 set by Paul Butorac in 2006 and ranks sixth
already on EWU’s career list. He is also 14th in the league
in scoring (12.7) and 10th in field goal percentage (.496). Against
Northern Colorado on Jan. 19, Jois equaled the school record of
seven blocked shots set earlier this season by teammate
Martin Seiferth, but that record was broken on
Feb. 23 when Seiferth had eight. Jois had his best game as an Eagle
with 22 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting against Cal
State Fullerton in EWU’s 79-75 win on Nov. 30 to earn Big Sky
Conference Player of the Week honors. In January, he was selected
to the Collegehoopsdaily.com All-Big Sky Conference team from the
first half of the season, and was also the school’s
Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January. Earlier in the season, he
was selected to the All-Tournament Team for his performances in the
2012 College Basketball Experience (CBE) Hall of Fame Classic in
Santa Clara, Calif. He had a pair of double-doubles with 19 points
and 11 rebounds in EWU’s 75-70 win over South Carolina
Upstate and 16 points and 11 boards one game earlier in an 86-83
loss to Utah Valley. Jois came to Eastern after winning a pair of
MVP awards in Australia. He was the Bob Staunton 2012 U-20 National
Championship MVP, after leading the Victoria State Team to the
championship and an unbeaten record. Saint Mary’s College and
NBA standout Patty Mills won the Bob Staunton MVP Award in 2006 and
2007. In addition, Jois was the South East Australian Basketball
League (SEABL) Youth Player of the Year in 2011, an award given to
the top under-23 player and previously won by college and NBA
standouts Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut.

* Sophomore Parker Kelly out of Gonzaga Prep in
Spokane has averaged 12.6 points in his last five games, including
a new career high with 19 points in EWU’s come-from-behind
77-74 overtime win over Northern Arizona on Feb. 9. Versus NAU,
Kelly’s 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation and a
subsequent defensive stop by the Eagles helped send the game into
overtime tied at 66. Kelly is now averaging 10.4 points per game in
his last 22 games after scoring just 10 in the first five games he
played. He has started 15 of the 27 games he has played this
season, and is now averaging 8.8 points and 1.0 assists per game,
while making a team-leading 47-of-123 3-point shots for 38.2
percent. He is currently ranked seventh in school history in career
3-point percentage (.408).

* Although he is currently out with compartment syndrome after a
blow to the shin, senior point guard Kevin Winford
is averaging 10.3 points and 4.2 assists in the last six games he
has played. He scored 11 points at Sacramento State on Feb. 7 and
12 in EWU’s 77-74 overtime win at Northern Arizona on Feb. 9.
He also had five assists in each game, and had a career-high four
steals versus the Lumberjacks. But he has missed the last two games
after suffering a shin injury against Southern Utah on Feb. 16,
which required surgery later that night. Winford ranks 14th in the
Big Sky in assists with a 2.6 average per game. Winford has started
46 of the 111 games he has played (seventh-most games played in
school history), averaging 19.5 minutes per game. He has made
138-of-409 3-pointers in his career to rank fifth in school history
in both categories, with a total of 704 points scored. Winford had
his most productive outings in two years with 13 points in both
meetings versus Montana State this season. His performances against
the Bobcats were his best since scoring 15 versus Northern Colorado
on Feb. 3, 2011. He also had his most assists since dishing out a
career-high seven versus New Hope on Dec. 4, 2010 (he scored 39
points in that game with a school-record 10 3-pointers). In the
first meeting with MSU, Eastern played its second game with Winford
in the lineup as starting point guard, with Justin Crosgile no
longer on the team after starting the first 12 games.

* Second-year Eastern head coach Jim Hayford
will coach in his 400th career game on March 7 when the Eagles play
at Idaho State. He is currently 278-120 (69.8 percent) in 13-plus
seasons as a head coach, including a 24-36 mark at Eastern. He was
217-57 (79.2 percent) in 10 seasons at Whitworth (2001-2011), and
before that was 37-27 in two seasons at the University of Sioux
Falls (S.D.).

* Eastern’s game with Idaho on Dec. 6 was the 100th in the
Eastern career of senior guard Jeffrey Forbes, and
fellow senior Kevin Winford played in his 100th on
Dec. 22 versus Idaho State.

* Senior Collin Chiverton scored just 15 points
in EWU’s first three outings this season, but he has bumped
his average to 10.8 for the season. He had a 20-point effort in
just 18 minutes of action in an 81-76 victory over Sam Houston on
Feb. 23. He made 7-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-4 free
throws in final 34 seconds of the game for his 15th 20-point
performance of his career and his third of the season. He scored 18
points in just 10 minutes of action in EWU’s 86-72 win over
Southern Utah on Feb. 16. He had 20 points against Montana State on
Jan. 31, including Eastern’s final six in the last 1:21 of
the 72-68 victory. He had a season-best 22 points against Northern
Arizona on Jan. 10 for his best performance since a career-high 26
against Seattle on Jan. 16, 2012. He played versus Montana on Jan.
3 for his first appearance since Nov. 23. Last year’s Big Sky
Conference Newcomer of the Year, Chiverton missed six games from
Nov. 30 to Dec. 22 following the death of a close friend in San
Francisco. Previously, his mother passed away just as the season
began. Foul trouble hindered him early in the year, and he scored
19 points in just 18 minutes before fouling out with 6:20 to play
against South Carolina Upstate in EWU’s 75-70 win. One game
later, he made 7-of-15 attempts from the field, including 4-of-12
3-point attempts, versus Santa Clara for his second-straight
19-point game. A year ago, he had 12 20-point performances, but was
slowed late in the year with injuries.

* Since becoming eligible in mid-December, Australian point
guard Daniel Hill has averaged 2.1 points, 1.8
assists and 1.5 rebounds per game in an average of 13.5 minutes per
game (19 total games with three starts). He made the first start of
his career at point guard on Jan. 17 at North Dakota as an injury
replacement for Kevin Winford, and he had a
season-high five assists, four rebounds and a steal in 38 minutes.
He also had five assists one game later versus Northern Colorado
when he played 35 minutes in place of Winford for the
second-straight game. Hill had three assists in EWU’s 82-59
win over Northern Arizona on Jan. 10, and a season-high eight
points in his third game as an Eagle in a 57-54 victory over Idaho
State on Dec. 22.

* True freshman Thomas Reuter has scored in
double figures five times this season, including 11 in EWU’s
loss to Montana on Feb. 2. For the season, he has started 16 of
EWU’s 28 games and is averaging 22.3 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.1
rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He had a season-high 16 points
with five rebounds in EWU’s 79-75 win over Cal State
Fullerton on Nov. 30.

* Eastern broke a 21-year-old Big Sky Conference record with 16
blocked shots to help the Eagles to an 81-76 men’s basketball
victory over Sam Houston State on Feb. 23. Sophomore Martin
Seiferth had a school-record eight blocks in the game as
the Eagles broke the previous league and school record of 13 set on
three occasions, with the last coming in 1992. One of the
performances was by the Eagles against Portland on Nov. 26, 1991.
Earlier this season, Seiferth and true freshman Venky
Jois had seven blocks against Cal State Northridge
(11/12/12) and Northern Colorado (1/19/13), respectively, to break
the previous record of six set back in 1987. Jois has 62 blocks for
the season to shatter the school record of 51 set by Paul Butorac
in 2006, and Seiferth is now second with 59. On EWU career lists,
Jois already ranks sixth and Seiferth is seventh. The Eagles have
also shattered the team record with a current total of 162 blocks,
with the previous EWU record of 130 set in the 2005-06 season. The
Big Sky Conference record is 179 set by Idaho State in the 2005-06
season. “Venky and Martin are athletic players,” said
Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. “They are a
presence inside. They are a freshman and a sophomore, so we have to
balance their athleticism with smarts and wisdom.”

* When the Eagles lost 89-80 at Portland State on Feb. 18,
Eastern missed out on a chance to wrap-up Eastern’s first
championship in “The Dam Cup.” The so-named rivalry
refers to the four dams linking Oregon and Washington that one
passes on the 339-mile drive between campuses. Portland State and
Eastern are in the third year of the five-sport rivalry cup, and
EWU went into the game leading in points, 8-5. The Vikings picked
up two points with the win, but EWU won the cup 10-7 after
EWU’s women’s team beat PSU 83-51 on Feb. 21 at
Reese Court.

* Eastern’s win over NAU on Feb. 9 completed a season
sweep and gives the Eagles a key tiebreaking advantage over the
Lumberjacks. In addition, the victory was EWU’s first of the
season in 12 tries on opponent home courts. It snapped a 13-game
losing skid overall on the road as Eastern’s last win on an
opponent’s home court was at Idaho State on Feb. 23, 2012, by
an 85-78 score.

* Until Montana sank 46.2 percent on Feb. 2, Eastern held its
last 10 opponents to 44 percent or less shooting from the field.
After allowing non-conference opponents to make a collective 48.0
percent against them, the Eagles have allowed conference opponents
to shoot at just a 40.7 percent clip (second in the BSC). EWU is
now 8-5 when it holds opponents to 43.5 percent or less and 1-14
when it doesn’t. The Eagles made only 38.0 percent versus
Idaho State on Dec. 22, but had a season-best defensive effort of
37.9 percent against the Bengals. Eastern bettered that two games
later by holding Montana State to 34.5 percent, then held the
Bobcats to just 30.3 percent in the rematch on Jan. 31.

* The Montana loss on Jan. 3 was Eastern’s first game
without former starting point guard Justin Crosgile, who left the
team for personal reasons to be closer to his family. Crosgile, who
is from Patterson, N.J., and is a transfer from St. Joseph’s
(Pa.), started EWU’s first 12 games and averaged 14.7 points,
5.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.

EWU vs. North
Dakota Series Notes

* Eastern is 1-2 all-time against North Dakota, including a
65-47 loss earlier this season in Grand Forks, N.D., which was the
first time the two schools have met since EWU moved to NCAA
Division I in the 1983-84 season. Eastern hadn’t played North
Dakota since Dec. 11, 1982, when EWU lost 75-71 in Grand Forks. A
year earlier, the Eagles beat North Dakota 81-72 in Cheney in the
only other meeting between the two schools.

* North Dakota went on runs of 8-0 to start the game and 13-0 to
begin the second half as the shorthanded Eagles lost 65-47 to UND
in a the first-ever Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game
between the two schools on Jan. 17 in Grand Forks, N.D. In
Eastern’s first trip to Grand Forks since 1982, the Eagles
had a season low point total as EWU made just 34 percent of its
shots, including a season-worst 13 percent from the 3-point line
(3-of-23). Eastern’s 6-foot-10 center Martin
Seiferth had14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked
shots in just 26 minutes to lead the Eagles, and Venky
Jois added his eighth double-double of the season with 12
points and 14 rebounds. Seiferth made 6-of-7 shots from the field
after entering the game leading the Big Sky in field goal shooting
at 64.9 percent for the season. Jois also added a pair of blocks
and two steals. Eastern held North Dakota to 36.7 percent shooting
– the sixth-straight game EWU has held its opponent to 44
percent shooting or less. The Eagles were out-rebounded 44-38, and
North Dakota forced 16 EWU turnovers leading to a 20-12 advantage
in points off turnovers. Eagle true freshman Daniel
Hill started at point guard in place of Winford and went
scoreless, but he had a season-high five assists, four rebounds and
a steal. Sophomore Parker Kelly came off the bench
to add eight points and three rebounds.

Records
Watch

* Led by the school-record eight blocked shots by sophomore
center Martin Seiferth, Eastern broke a
21-year-old Big Sky Conference record with 16 blocked shots on Feb.
23 in an 81-76 win over Sam Houston State. The Eagles broke the
previous league and school record of 13 set on three occasions,
with the last coming in 1992. One of the performances was by the
Eagles against Portland on Nov. 26, 1991. Seiferth broke the record
of seven both he and true freshman Venky Jois had
earlier this season. Jois had seven against Northern Colorado on
Jan. 19, and Seiferth broke the previous school record that had
stood for 25 years when he had seven at Cal State Northridge on
Nov. 12. Seiferth, who also had 27 points and 17 rebounds in that
game, broke the previous record of six set by Dexter Griffen versus
Idaho State on Jan. 2, 1987. Seiferth’s 17 rebounds are the
seventh-best recorded performance all-time at Eastern. The
sophomore from Berlin, Germany, just missed a spot on
Eastern’s all-time leading scorers list, with 30 points
scored by 10 different players to rank 39th. Later in the season,
Seiferth had 21 rebounds against Northern Colorado on Feb. 28 to
rank as the third-most in recorded school history behind the 22 by
Paul Butorac (11/18/06 versus Lewis-Clark State) and 28 by Dave
Hayden (1/15/72 versus Oregon Tech).

* Venky Jois has 62 blocked shots this season,
breaking the previous school record of 51 set by Paul Butorac in
2006. Jois already ranks sixth on EWU’s career list. In
addition, Martin Seiferth has 59 blocks to rank
third on EWU’s single season list and seventh on the career
chart.

* With 162 blocked shots as a team, the Eagles broke the school
record of 130 set in the 2005-06 season. The Big Sky Conference
record is 179 set by Idaho State in the 2005-06 season.

* Senior guard Jeffrey Forbes broke the school
record on Feb. 9 with his 100th game started, breaking the previous
record of 99 set by Marc Axton (2002-05). Forbes has played in 118
games to rank second in school history, and could break
Axton’s school record of 119 games played (Alvin Snow had 118
from 2001-04). The only two games Forbes has missed in his career
came this season versus North Dakota (1/17/13) because of a knee
injury and against Montana State (1/31/13) because of a hand
injury. Now a 104-game starter, Forbes has averaged 30.0 minutes
per game in his Eastern career. He became the 16th Eastern player
to go over the 1,000-point mark in his career when he had 11 points
on Feb. 23 versus Sam Houston State, and how has 1,013 in his
career to rank 15th. He ranks sixth in school history
wit­­­h 118 career steals, just two from reaching No.
5. He is also third in 3-pointers made (170) and second in attempts
(459). He is 14 makes and 40 attempts away from school records. In
his career at the free throw line, Forbes has made what would be a
school record at 86.4 percent (165-of-191), but he is 45 attempts
shy to meet the minimum of two free throw attempts per game. Forbes
set a single season school record for free throw percentage (.900,
54-of-60) as a sophomore. He also made 55 3-pointers in the 2010-11
season to rank as the 11th-most in Eastern history (now 13th
entering the 2012-13 season).

* Senior guard Kevin Winford has played in 111
career games to rank seventh in school history, and also ranks in
the top 10 on several Eastern season and career lists for 3-point
shooting. On career charts, his 138 makes and his 409 attempts both
rank fifth. Winford made 66 3-pointers in the 2010-11 season to
rank fifth (now sixth) in single season school history, and his 187
attempts were fourth (now fifth). He owns school records for single
game 3-pointers made (10) and attempted (23) when he finished with
39 points – fifth-best in school history – in his
sophomore season against New Hope (12/4/10).

* Senior forward Collin Chiverton and his 130
3-pointers rank sixth on EWU’s top 10 career list, and his
337 attempts are sixth and his .386 percentage is currently 11th.
In the five seasons he has played since his junior year in high
school, teams that Chiverton has played on have won 138 of 188
games for a .734 winning percentage. His junior college and high
school teams won 114 of 131 games (87 percent).

* Sophomore Parker Kelly has made 40.8 percent
of his 3-point shots in his career (82-of-201) to currently rank
sixth in school history.

Recent Game
Summaries

* Northern Colorado made 8-of-11 free throws in the extra period
and defeated the Eastern 88-80 in overtime Thursday (Feb. 28) in a
Big Sky Conference showdown at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
Eastern’s undoing was a season-high 22 turnovers, as the
Eagles surrendered a 24 points off turnovers (second-most this
season). Sophomore Martin Seiferth finished with
21 rebounds to rank as the third-most in school history, and also
had 11 points and two blocked shots as he finished with his third
double-double on the season. Redshirt freshman Tyler
Harvey, making his second start at point guard, finished
with 22 points, four assists and four rebounds for the Eagles. Also
scoring in double figures for EWU were Venky Jois
with 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots,
Collin Chiverton with 11 points and Parker
Kelly with 10 points and six rebounds. Senior
Jeffrey Forbes finished with nine points, four
rebounds and five assists.

* Eastern broke a 21-year-old Big Sky Conference record with 16
blocked shots to help the Eagles to an 81-76 men’s basketball
victory over Sam Houston State Feb. 23 at Reese Court in the ESPN
Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters series of college basketball games.
The Eagles opened a 16-point lead in the first half and needed
every bit of it in holding off the comeback attempt of the Bearkats
from the Southland Conference. Four Eagles scored in double
figures, and senior guard Jeffrey Forbes became
the 16th Eagle in school history to hit the coveted 1,000-point
mark in his career. Eastern attempted a season-low 38 field goal
attempts, but made them count for a 61 percent shooting night.
Eastern made a season-best 56 percent from the 3-point line
(10-of-18) as Collin Chiverton led four Eagles in
double figures with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Sam Houston
State, meanwhile, had 29 offensive rebounds and a 45-29 rebounding
advantage. Fortunately, the Eagles held SHSU to 33 percent as the
Bearkats finished with 78 total shots -- a high against EWU this
season. Sophomore Martin Seiferth had a
school-record eight blocks as the Eagles broke the previous league
and school records of 13 set on three occasions, with the last
coming in 1992. The previous individual school record was seven set
earlier this season by Seiferth and his teammate, Venky
Jois. Sophomore Parker Kelly finished
with 17 points and Jois and Forbes each had 11. Jois also has six
assists and four of EWU’s blocked shots. Freshman redshirt
Tyler Harvey made the first start of his career,
and finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and
three blocked shots at point guard.

On Loss to Northern Colorado: “It was a
great basketball game. Give Northern Colorado credit -- that is
uncharacteristically high for us turnover-wise. Some of our guys
have gone three or four weeks without that amount of turnovers.
Give the Northern Colorado defense credit.”

On 21-Rebound Performance by Seiferth Against
UNC: “That is a big time winning number, and I am
very proud of him. Martin and Tyler (Harvey) had really good
nights.”

On Sam Houston State Win: “I thought our
guys were playing a very athletic team, but we kept enough poise to
finish it out. I am really proud of them. Obviously, (it helps)
when you block 16 shots. We knew we had a height advantage, and
they maybe had a quickness advantage. We knew it (the height
advantage) would show up somewhere.”

On Big Sky Blocked Shots Record: “To
block 16 shots in one game -- I have never seen anything like that
in my life. For us to shoot 61 percent from the field shows how we
are really improving. Our theme for that game was great effort,
great execution and great efficiency. When you look at us
offensively, you see all three of those things.”

On Tyler Harvey’s Starting Debut:
“The best thing Tyler did today was have eight defensive
rebounds. Part of that was chasing down blocked shots. Tyler
continues to step up and seize the opportunity. There is a lot of
pressure on a freshman point guard that started off as the
fourth-string point guard at the beginning of the year. I am very
proud of him. He is an outstanding teammate as his teammates will
say.”

On NAU Win After Trailing by 18 Late in the
Game: “It’s just a fantastic win for us. When
you look at where it puts us in the race to achieve our goal of
making the Big Sky Tournament, it’s even more dramatic. So
I’m really, really happy for our players. I’m really
proud of our team -- what a great day for all of our players. You
couldn’t write it up to be any more dramatic.”

On Chiverton & Winford Versus MSU on Jan.
31: “The big thing for us was down the stretch is
that we had seniors step up. Kevin was a great defensive rebounder
in the second half, and Collin made free throws down the stretch.
That’s showing the young guys how to do it. When you get
those kinds of contributions it will be fun. It is going to be a
lot better result.”

On Venky Jois: “Venky has been our most
consistent player. He is a great leader even though he is only a
freshman. The biggest compliment (I can give him) is that I expect
him to play that way.”

On Kevin Winford & Jeffrey Forbes at MSU:
“Kevin and Jeff gave great senior performances to lead and
show our team how you play on the road. I just want to give those
two young men a lot of credit. They both have amazing personal
character, are great guys and they really did lead by
example.”

On Toughness After ISU Win & WSU
Loss: “We need to keep building toughness. The
way you get toughness is you face adversity, and you find success
against it. When you face adversity -- and fail against it -- you
go up the next time and you look for success. That’s what we
are committed to do as a coaching staff.”

On Aggressive Play: “I’m scrappy so
I’m going to try to make them scrappy every day. That’s
the only way I know how to play basketball. It’s just a
truth. The team that plays harder wins. That’s the great
equalizer -- there’s talent and whatever, but I hope we just
get scrappier.”